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A 44-year-old woman died when her pickup truck became lodged near the middle of a train passing through Chatham Tuesday night.

Authorities said the Chatham woman was pronounced dead at the scene and she was travelling alone.

Her identity had not been released as of press time Wednesday as police worked to contact her family.

Postings on social media sites identified the driver and stated the woman was driving with her dog in the truck, but it has gone missing.

Charles Scott, the woman's neighbour, told The Chatham Daily News it's important to get the 6-year-old white and tan English bulldog named Lucy back to its family.

Scott described the woman as a good neighbour who cared deeply for her dog.

He can be contacted at 519-784-5219 if anyone knows Lucy's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, investigators are now focused on learning why the collision occurred at an intersection marked with lights and bells.

Const. Renee Cowell said the lights were functioning at the time of the collision.

A white Ford pickup was southbound on Prince Albert Road when it slammed into a standard freight train, 41 cars behind the engine, and was dragged just over four kilometres near Centre Side Road.

Andy Cummings, Canadian Pacific spokesperson, told The Chatham Daily News the train was 106 cars long plus a number of engines.

"As soon as the crew realized something was wrong they stopped the train," he said.

It takes a train of that size, travelling at regular speeds, 1.6 kilometres to come to a complete stop, Cummings said.

Ying Wang was in bed when the CP train passed behind her property around 10:45 p.m.

"I was almost asleep and I heard a noise. I didn't know it was an accident," Wang told The Daily News.

She and her husband own Young's Variety Store, just steps from the collision site and had closed the store for the day around 8:30 p.m.

Wang said she saw a police cruiser in her parking lot sometime later through the night, but still didn't think much of it.

"They (police) are here all the time stopping impaired drivers," she said.

It was the following morning when other people living near the scene also heard the tragic news.

Two men renovating a farm house in the area did not know anything had happened just a few metres from the property.

A CP worker at the scene doubted anyone on the train would have immediately felt the impact of the truck hitting the rail car, given the distance from the engine.

Four members of Chatham-Kent police Critical Incident Response Team walked the entire length between Prince Albert and Centre Side roads during daylight Wednesday looking for evidence that may have been missed during the night.

CP crews could be seen working with equipment housed in metal boxes near the corner of Grand Avenue East and Prince Albert Road.

Cummings wasn't certain what damage may have been caused to the rail line in the collision.

Trains were passing through the area the following day, but at reduced speeds.

Chatham-Kent Const. Renee Cowell said a post-mortem had been ordered, but couldn't immediately confirm where or when the examination would proceed.

This incident marked the second fatal crash on a rail line near Chatham in less than two months.

Wayne June, 58, of Bothwell died when his pickup truck hit a VIA train at a railway crossing on Fairfield Line near Bothwell on Dec. 29 just before 10:30 a.m.